21. Brother Down
"And here we are at the scene of what seems to be an impressive Beybattle in the middle of an abandoned field. Why the authorities aren't here is the question that the media is asking and puzzling over. Such and event would be classified as a riot and criminal act as it appears the Beybattles have gone beyond mere Beyblading. Even from the aerial view we have, there seems to be a lot of red appearing down there, and I am of course referring to blood-which can only mean that most certain death and pain are being caused down there. Stay tuned for updates on this occurrence. This has been Andrea Chase for R-"
"When the media's involved, it's big," Judy growled, turning off the TV and clutching the remote to her chest.
"And bad," added Lutka. "This engagement between Goadbwa and Biovolt was supposed to be confidential. If the media gets information about either side and the other is listening, it could be disastrous. What the public learns can also be potentially dangerous. If Goadbwa wins this, we're guaranteed the apocalypse sometime soon."
Irina glanced from one monitor to another and landed on Judy's worried expression. "So what do we do about the media? Should we defer the Infiltration of Galsky Castle and take care of the media instead?"
"That's won't be necessary. We don't want to end up with a bunch of dead reporters on our hands. Boris sits bad enough as it is with Voltaire, and we don't need the added contempt of the government," concluded Judy. "What I'm more worried about at the moment is the fact that Kai, Tala, and Sarah are at the battlefield. If Boris told them not to go, then it was probably for a good reason."
Kenny sighed. "I don't see what you're so worried about, Mrs. Tate. Don't you remember Boris himself saying that those three were the actual descendants of the Hilanovs? If anything, they are the ones that will win it for us because they're stronger."
"Which is exactly what Goadbwa wants," countered Lutka. "The Hilanovs have more power, and they can use it against us if Goadbwa gets a hold of them. You saw how easy it was for Goadbwa to take control of Sarah. They could do the same to Kai and Tala is an even easier target. All they need is to hack into his operative systems and he becomes a destructive puppet. For Kai and Sarah, they need their Bit Beasts. Maybe it was a mistake to fuse their souls with those of their Bit Beasts..."
***
"Go, Dranzer!"
Dranzer rose from its blade and shot straight towards the young male Goadbwa trainee that had been sneaking up on Rhea. Dranzer penetrated the boy and left through the opposite side it had entered, carrying with it tinges of blue among the red bird-like form. It soared up into the dark grey clouded sky, creating a small flash upon contact. Seconds later there was another flash and it plummeted back downward and back into Kai's spinning Beyblade.
Kai looked to the boy just in time to see his eyes roll back into his head and close before he fell to the ground, unconscious and without a spirit. Maybe it had been heartless, but the alternatives could have been worse.
Kuiper looked to the comatose boy and then back to Kai. "Think you're so hot, don't you? Dubbed the "World Champion" and you get all egotistical. Well, let me give you a taste of reality-maybe the Soul Realm is the best place to learn!"
In one flashing move, Doppelgost sprang from its position looming over Rhea to aiming for Kai. It was so fast that it gave no time to react. Rhea couldn't command anything of Moel as she had just come out of being transfixed, and Kuiper wasn't about to help him. The blue spirit came at him, Kai drawing back in fear and horror of what was about to happen. After what seemed like an eternity of fear and drawing back, he made one final jerk and felt Doppelgost penetrate his arm instead of his chest-where it had been aiming. It was still a place that could be stolen from.
***
"There-keep your eyes on them. On my signal, shoot," instructed the head of Rank B in a whisper to the Biovolt deploys hiding behind the corner he was in.
One of the Goadbwa scientists rounded the corner towards them, holding a gun, but not poised to shoot. She glanced around the halls as she sauntered down them, appearing quite nervous and visibly shaking even as she tried to hold her composure. She was about four metres and had stopped to clutch the gun anxiously to her chest and look around with paranoia.
"Fire!" the head ordered in an audible yell.
The girl whipped her head towards where they had been hiding around the corner just as the deploys jumped out. The three that had leapt out fired five simultaneous shots before moving forward over the bloodied corpse.
***
There was a burst of pain like a thousand needles erupted from where he had been hit and he felt mildly nauseous. He closed his eyes to block out the pain and saw the image of his father smiling back at him. When he opened them, it was gone. He felt the Beast leave his arm opposite the side it had entered and was surprised to find himself still awake.
He raised his head to see the ghostly blue form retreat to the grey clouds with and orange soul as Dranzer had done before returning to the astonished Kuiper's Beyblade. Kuiper stared wide-eyed at his spinning blade before looking to Kai with the same flabbergasted expression. Kai was very much surprised himself. He held his right hand to where it hurt on his left arm, but other than that, he was perfectly fine. After glancing at Rhea and Kuiper, he looked to his arm and lifted his hand away. His uniform had been cut and a bloody wound displayed itself clearly on his arm.
"I-I don't understand... You should be out cold! I saw Doppelgost take your soul! Why are you still awake?" Kuiper exclaimed.
Kai turned his head around the two once again. "I...I don't know..."
"You took a soul, alright, but it wasn't necessarily Kai's soul," Rhea said, having become aware of her surroundings once again. The two turned their attention towards her.
"The soul you took, Kuiper, wasn't that of Kai's. It was merely the soul that occupied his arm. I am sure that Gilepse told you of the fact that Kai has more than one soul."
"I do?" "He does?" the two boys chorused.
"It's father, Tala! Look, Tala, look!" Anya cried, grabbing his arm and jerking it to pull him to see the figure.
Tala stared silently, ignoring the yells of his sister screaming in his ear. The two were so entranced that they didn't see Telesto duck out from behind the red soul and draw the gun from its holster. With a snicker that foretold his approach, he fired at the mesmerized Tala.
Samson's eyes flickered open warily to see Spica pinning Sarah to the ground. Spica held one wrist firmly and struggled to get past the dagger Sarah held protecting her throat from the one Spica had. Ignoring the pain in his chest, Samson staggered upward and towards the two.
"Hey! Spica! Leave her alone! She wasn't sent to fight you!"
"Neither were you sent to fight her," sounded a familiar voice as Samson felt an arm latch around his neck and pull him backward. The person reached out a navy blue uniformed arm and held the knife in his hand against his throat.
Samson turned his head slightly to see Kieran smiling smugly back at him. "Kieran! Why are you doing this?"
"Because I want to," was the simple answer. "Come with me-Gilepse's orders." With that, he dragged Samson away to the edge of the field, Samson not persisting but keeping an eye on Sarah and Spica.
Spica let go of Sarah's wrist on feeling a sharp jab in the middle of her back. She fell forward towards Sarah's head from the impact but was thrown off in the grace period. Sarah massaged the knee she had used to knock Spica off with as she moved away from her recovering rival.
Spica sat for a moment, dazed at what had just happened. She quickly disposed of her dagger by throwing it on the ground and leaping up. She headed for Sarah, who held her dagger out in front in a wild hope of penetrating the armour with a single hit. The belt was hacked and severed, the blue fabric draped stretched taut across the chest armour landed softly in the grass so that the Goadbwa logo on it was visible.
Spica took no notice of it and grabbed a hold of Sarah's arms, holding them steady so that she couldn't fight back. Sarah took that to advantage and kicked with her legs at Spica until Spica knocked her off them with one swift move. Spica stood over Sarah, keeping a safe distance away from where her legs could thrash as she kept the grip on her wrists. Spica raised her leg to aim one devastating kick at Sarah's stomach when she felt a sharp pain on the top of her head. She let go and fell backwards, throwing both hands to the wound and coiling with pain.
Sarah let her hands fall spreading to the ground and breathed a huge sigh of relief as she stared upward at the sky. All of a sudden, she saw a head appear above her, upside down, but someone to help her, nonetheless.
"Want a hand?" Philemon asked, extending his hand down towards her.
"I thought you didn't like helping me?"
"I make exceptions."
Sarah reached up and Philemon grabbed a hold of her arm, hauling her upright and onto her feet. Sarah breathed heavily as they both watched Spica cradle her aching head. She looked like a small child throwing a tantrum over a small cut, writhing and holding her head as if it would break should she loosen her grip.
"Thanks," Sarah huffed, still trying to catch her breath.
"Don't mention it. Hey Spica-had enough?"
"You-You idiots! I'll show you that Goadbwa can and will win this! Deneb has faith in us, not Biovolt!" she managed to say through whimpers of pain.
Philemon leaned closer to Sarah and lowered his voice that he couldn't be heard by Spica. "I received word that you, Tala, and Kai have to get together soon. The sooner, the better, that way we get this whole war over and done with. You go-I'll handle Spica."
Sarah nodded and hurried to where the other two were, fiddling with pieces of her torn uniform.
Rhea was about to reply but stopped when someone grabbed her from behind. It was a Goadbwa deploy and he held a knife to her back, ready to strike. "Mr Galsky would like you to unleash that extra soul of yours, Hiwatari."
"What extra soul?" Rhea questioned, trying to sound innocent.
Marduk pressed the knife harder to her back. Kai and Kuiper could see from the front that she was wincing in pain. "Don't play dumb. We're talking about your possession. That spirit inside of you-Crucis. Send her out, now, or we'll take it from you."
Kai made a move to advance forward when Kuiper's gun aimed for him. "Move and you're dead, Hiwatari. So your soul wants to stay with you, but a soul has nothing to do with your life."
Kai opened his mouth to speak when a voice from behind him interjected. "Kai!" There followed a gunshot from not too far away.
Tala felt searing agony in his shoulder and heard a clank. Purplish blood exploded from the gunshot wound and the stench of burnt flesh filled his and Anya's noses.
Anya stared at the gash in his shoulder. There was broken flesh which surrounded reddish metal. "Tala-l-look at your shoulder!"
"I know." He glowered straight ahead at Telesto, who, seeing the look in Tala's eyes, appeared fearful and apprehensive.
Telesto placed his gun back in its holster and drew back from Tala, who was advancing blindly on him. After a few calm steps, Tala dashed forward and reached for Telesto's neck only to be kicked in the chest by him. Tala fell backwards into a sitting position and breathed heavily to catch his breath as he saw Spica appear at Telesto's side.
"We have to end this now," she ordered to him. "If we combine our powers, we can take them down right here, right now."
Telesto nodded. "Right. Get Kuiper and assemble everyone here."
Kuiper, Kai, and Sarah had turned to where Telesto, Spica and Tala were. Sarah looked a little further to where she had been fighting with Spica before to see Philemon sprawled out across the ground, his glasses lying in the grass nearby him.
"Philemon!"
"Don't worry 'bout him, Langley. I just had to shut him up for a while-he was getting in my way," sneered Spica. She turned to the other two. "Come on, let's split."
Sarah was about to respond to their retreat when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine. Right now we have other things to worry about," Kai consoled.
"But where are the soul supports?"
"Right here," Tyson's voice resounded from behind. "We're here to help you."
Eva stepped out from behind Tyson and over to where Tala sat on the grass in front of Vitality Extortion. She kept her eye warily on the gun the Telesto held out towards her in case she made a sudden move. She dragged Tala to the other five, depositing him to lean against Sarah's leg.
Sarah bent down. "Tala? Are you going to be okay?"
Tala breathed heavily in her face. He coughed throatily before replying. "No problem. I'll... be fine. Just help me up."
Sarah took hold of both of his arms and yanked him up and onto his feet. He stood hunched over and swayed precariously for a moment before drawing up to full height and regaining full breath. "All right. Let's do this."
"Where did Vitality Extortion go?" Bryan asked, looking around the field. "They ran off, I took my eye away, and now they're gone."
Kai reached inside his torn black jumpsuit and pulled out his papal cross. He scrutinised it a moment before letting go of it and letting it fall against his chest. He spread his arms out as if to embrace a small child. "Take out your crosses and join hands."
"What's that supposed to do?" questioned Tala, having regained his spunk.
"Don't question me unless you have a better suggestion," Kai replied sternly.
Tala muttered something about Kai being a show-off before reaching inside his white jumpsuit and pulling out his patriarchal cross and taking hold of both Sarah and Kai's hands.
Sarah took out her Latin cross and Beyblade, gripping Fovular tightly in the hand with which she held Tala.
"Ow! Hey, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, the points of her Beyblade digging into his skin.
"Whoops, sorry, I-"
"Good idea," added Kai. "Hold your Beyblades, too."
Tala took out Wolborg and lowered his head as Kai and Sarah were doing as they all held hands. After a moment of silence among the three, Sarah opened her eyes and raised her head.
"What exactly are we doing?"
"Praying," answered Kai without looking up.
"I don't see how that will help," Tala interjected.
"We haven't been able to defeat Goadbwa up to this point. Maybe asking for help from the heavens is what will aid us. And if not, it's worth a try."
Tala and Sarah looked at each other before mimicking Kai.
"I always thought Kai was a little off his rocker..." Tyson whispered to Eva.
Eva looked to the sky. It was covered in clouds, yet when the clouds did part, it was night. The bright moon shone above the mountains they stood in front of. Regardless of the fact that dark had fallen, individual battles raged throughout the field. She looked back to the Hilanovs when she began to hear them muttering something.
"God of the high heavens and angels of death and life..." started Kai.
"We not only ask for your aide in the salvation of our lives, but those of the world..." Tala continued.
"O ye gods, give us the strength to battle the evil of Vitality Extortion..." finished Sarah.
There was a silence in which nothing happened. The Hilanovs stood with their heads down, eyes closed and holding hands while Bryan, Eva, and Tyson watched intently. Bryan then raised his head and noticed something appearing in the clouds.
"Hey, guys-look!"
Tyson and Eva gawked upwards to see the storm clouds swirl, and then spread apart to reveal the blackish blue of the sky. There was a flash of bright light, and then a white beam shot down from the part in the clouds. It reached to the ground in the middle of the Hilanovs, creating a continuous ray of light.
Their crosses floated away from their chests and seemed drawn to the light. From their hands poked the ghostly heads of their Bit Beasts, then the bodies, until they were completely drawn out and into the glow. The Hilanovs kept in their position.
Tyson felt something vibrate in his hand and looked down to it. Dragoon pushed its way out from the confines of the bit piece and towards the beam of light as Wolborg, Dranzer and Fovular had done. The same was happening to Bryan and Eva, too, from their exclamation.
Across the field, Robert paused in his battle with a Goadbwa deploy when Griffolyon veered away from the opponent it was halfway through attacking. He turned to see it being drawn to the light at the edge of the field near the pond and mountain exits. Glancing around the field, it seemed that all of the Bit Beasts belonging to deploys of Biovolt were being siphoned into the vortex.
"What's happening?" he heard Emily exclaim frantically from somewhere nearby.
"Their Bit Beasts are being drawn into the Soul Realm," Spica explained to Kuiper and Telesto, who also knew what was going on. They had returned from gathering a couple of trainees from around the field and stood some metres warily away. All were staring, wide eyed.
"Their powers are strong to be able to summon the strength of the Gods..." Kuiper voiced pointlessly.
"Are you sure we stand a chance against them?" Telesto questioned rhetorically.
When all of the Bit Beasts had finished their air parade and been taken into the hole in the sky, the beam narrowed. From the break in the clouds descended a long, thin object with all the colours of the spirits shooting around it. It came down the beam slowly and stopped to hover in mid-air when it was arm's reach above the Hilanovs.
Sarah was the first to open her eyes and raise her head. "Look!" she gasped.
Tala and Kai did the same and saw the magnificent weapon floating over their heads. It was a sword with a leather handle and black pommel. The blade was of a lustrous silver that reflected the colours of the many spirits circling around it.
Sarah let go of Tala's hand and reached upwards to bring it down further. She stretched her arm to full length, and when that didn't work, she boosted herself onto the edges of her toes. It hovered, just out of each attempt at reaching it.
Kai reached upward and onto his toes as Sarah had done, this time just brushing it with his fingertips. Tala watched confusedly as they both tried to reach for it on tiptoe, neither one achieving the needed height. There were other ways of getting to it.
Tala let go off both their hands and leapt up into the air, managing to grab a hold of the pommel in one hand. Though, as soon as he pulled it from its hovering position, it felt as heavy as lead and headed for the ground, Tala not strong enough to support its immense weight. Had Kai not jumped out of the way, he would have walked away from it with one less arm. Immediately, the white beam of light narrowed and flickered before disappearing completely to make the sky close and grey once again.
Kai and Sarah stared at the sword in Tala's hand in astonishment. "Why didn't I think of that?" Sarah questioned rhetorically.
"Because it's only fair to share glory," Tala replied succinctly. "This is great, but what are we supposed to do with it?"
Sarah reached for the handle of the sword and tried to raise it, Tala having let go of it. She struggled with it, using both hands, but to no avail. Tala reached out to help her, gripping his hands firmly around hers on the pommel. Together, they were able to lift it a couple of centimetres off of the ground, but not to full height. Kai then reached out to help, hands over Tala and Sarah's.
With a heavy heave from the three, it was pulled into the air and they raised it high above their heads. The Bit Beasts, since Tala had pulled it down, had stopped their circling, but began once more as the sword was held raised in the air.
All the while this happened, the others on the battlefield had paused their battles to stare in amazement. Vitality Extortion stood the closest, and had been the most mesmerized by it all. They had brought some other Goadbwa officials with them, including Ophelia, whom they were surprised to meet. Kuiper was the first to wake from his mindless stare.
"Come on, guys, who knows what will happen if they find out how to work that thing!"
Spica and Telesto turned to him, having come to their senses at his comment. They both nodded as Kuiper lunged forward at Kai.
"Get Kai! If we can't take down his multiple souls, we won't stand a chance against the other two!"
"Let it rip!" Telesto exclaimed, firing his Beyblade at Kai. "Poltost, or should I say, Sergei Romanov, eat his soul!"
Kai stood still and watched the red spirit heading for him when Tala leapt out in front, pulled out his dagger, and rushed forward at Telesto. He dodged the soul of his father and caught Telesto by his torn collar. Keeping a firm hold on the collar to hold him in place, Tala brought the dagger upwards and drove it right into the fleshy part under Telesto's chin.
Telesto made a choking, gagging noise, and the blood poured from the wound as Tala quickly drew it out. Tala let go of Telesto, who drew back, stumbled, and fell to the ground, clutching the area of the violent wound.
There was silence among the throng as Tala stared down at his victim, a ruthless and apathetic look on his face. Telesto kept his head buried, his chin against his neck and hands smearing blood from the wound. Poltost had also stopped in mid-air. After a minute or so, Telesto coughed up an amount of blood onto the ground before staggering up. He stood at full height, with his head still down, and massaged his chin a little before raising his head.
Tala's eyes widened and he gasped. "Th-That's impossible! It was a fatal wound! What the heck happened?"
Telesto looked to Spica, and then to Kuiper, who had been standing behind him. They had the same look as Tala. Where the blood had poured onto his uniform, it remained, but the area around where the wound had been was clean. In fact, there was no wound at all, just a reddish colouring as if it were a mere rash.
"Let's not dwell on the small stuff, please, and get Kai's souls!" ordered Kuiper, bringing everyone to their senses once again.
"Right!" Spica agreed, firing her Beyblade and commanding Revenost to go for Kai.
Meanwhile, the sword had fallen from the hands of only two Hilanovs, and Kai stood like a deer in the headlights, half paralysed from fear. All three of Vitality Extortion's Bit Beasts came at him. He felt Doppelgost strike through his left arm, Poltost through his right leg, and Revenost through his torso. They penetrated one by one, each as painful as the last, and Kai wondered how many chances he had left. He recoiled to the ground and crouched, writhing in pain.
"He's still alive and kicking, Spica..." Telesto warned in a mocking voice.
"Don't you think I can see that? It's obvious that there are more than three souls in him. However many more, they won't last him long. Keep attacking!" she screeched back.
Poltost, Doppelgost, and Revenost shot back through the clouds and back to the ground once more, each heading for Kai. How many more souls were contained in him from his syndication? Spica was right, not many. He closed his eyes and lowered his head to brace himself for the hit when he heard a loud clash and then moans.
He raised his head to see Wolborg, Fovular, and Dranzer forming a barrier around him. Vitality Extortion's Bit Beasts had deflected off the barrier and were floating aimlessly away from it.
"What are you waiting for? Break through that barrier!" Spica ordered the Bit Beasts and pointing at Kai.
"You'll have to go through us, first!" countered Tala, standing his ground in front of Kai.
"It's not going to work, guys," observed Kuiper. "It's obvious, their souls aren't willing to leave them, so get their lives out of the way, even if their souls are more valuable to Goadbwa."
"I think it's also working vice versa," Sarah whispered to Tala out the side of her mouth. "You saw how Telesto's death wound healed almost immediately. We'll have to take their souls down."
"I call Spica," Tala muttered back. He drew his gun quickly and made to aim at her, had she not been quicker to draw and fire first.
Dranzer, Fovular, and Wolborg returned to their Beyblades and Kai got up from his crouching position. He headed for Telesto, who had had his attention elsewhere at the moment. Kai tackled Telesto to the ground and held the knife to his throat.
"I'm generally not this violent, but when my buttons are pushed, I make exceptions," Kai growled.
Telesto could do nothing but smile pleasantly back. "When I'm done with you, Kai, you'll wish you had felt pacifistic today."
Seeing both his teammates occupied, Kuiper turned to Sarah, who had been standing beside the sword, unmoved from the position she had prayed in. She looked at him, her eyes clearly showing surprise and slight fear. He smiled and charged for her, dagger drawn.
"You're mine!"
He was a few inches away from her when she thrust out and swung her leg under his, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. He landed flat on his back to stared up at the sky, dazed, but not before he had landed a slash across her chest.
As Kuiper lay on the ground, Sarah analysed the cut in the clothing. There was a laceration from her right shoulder to the top of her left breast. Surprisingly, there was only a small graze to the skin. As she was preoccupied with it, Kuiper recovered, leapt up, and knocked her down with his arm. She fell onto her rear and stared up at him, confusion on her features, He stepped toward her and she scrambled away, not turning her back to him and on all fours.
"Come on, now. Let me do this properly and it won't hurt one bit. You won't feel a thing, my pretty," Kuiper drawled, a smug smirk on his face. He finally threw himself forward with the dagger.
Sarah jumped out of the way just in time for him to plant the knife into the ground where her chest had just been. She got up onto her feet and ran around behind him, reaching for the sword and taking hold of it in both hands.
Telesto kicked Kai off just as Kai began to bring the dagger down. Kai fell forward and Telesto leapt up to place his foot firmly on Kai's back so that he couldn't get up. "How's it feel to be the underdog for a change, Kai?"
"Sweet as revenge," Kai replied wittily as he reached up with the knife and stabbed Telesto in the leg.
Telesto drew his leg away immediately, and drew it to his chest to scrutinise the blood gush from it. Kai got onto his feet and brought the dagger to Telesto's chest. Telesto quickly moved his hands out of the way and drew back. There was a standstill between the two as Telesto's chest armour cracked from where the blade had impacted. It ran a crack up and down the front side of the white chest plate before the whole armour shattered and fell to the ground in pieces along with the blue belt.
Kai and Telesto both looked to the heavy materials lying on the floor, both stunned at what had just happened. Kai let go of the dagger and it dropped to the grass among the shards of the armour. He looked up as he heard Telesto gasp. Telesto was looking over Kai's shoulder, and for a moment Kai wasn't sure whether or not to trust him. He turned, however, when he saw Spica and Tala also staring in the same direction, even though blood dripped from the gunshot wound in Tala's side.
Sarah had lifted the sword, yet she didn't seem to notice she had. She held it above her head, poised to strike Kuiper, who neither seemed to notice that she wielded it easily in her hands. He drew his gun in one hand and dagger in the other. He fired a shot towards her, but she blocked it with the silver blade. She jabbed forward with the sword but was blown off by the dagger of Kuiper.
They continued to throw these hits at each other, each either dodging or deflecting the blow. Everyone else was mesmerized by the fact that Sarah could wield it by herself when it had taken the three Hilanovs before, yet Kuiper and Sarah kept on battling despite the many eyes.
Finally, the two parted for a break, about a metre away from each other as they scowled and panted at one another. After several moments, Kuiper made the first advance forward to strike, but Sarah made the move faster. She raised the sword to shoulder level and pared the blade horizontally. For those few petrified seconds as he glared into her angered eyes, Kuiper wished he had kept his arms up to block instead of jabbing forward.
There was a stunned silence among the group as they stared at the scene, horrified. Sarah stared straight ahead, a distant and confused look in her eye, unaware of what kind of fury had come over her. She glanced to the sword, which felt light as a feather in her hand. She ran her eyes along the blade, and at the halfway point for several or so centimetres, the blade was no longer silver.
She looked ahead again to see that her opponent was no longer standing in front of her and lowered her head. She saw why everyone had the mortified expression.
Kuiper lay on his back, blood spattered over the upper part of his uniform. Sarah ran her eyes along the body, from toe to head, but had to stop short at the neck. The reason; there was no head to look at. A clean cut had been made through the middle of his neck with the Hilanov sword. The many main arteries and veins secreted mass amounts of blood onto the grass and reddened the bones of his spinal cord.
Sarah cast her gaze slightly to the left and saw his head lying there, face up. His expression was wide-eyed, his mouth closed, the ultimate trepidation on his features. The severed neck clearly displayed the blood and more of the veins, arteries, and bones.
She kept her eyes on it, wondering what to do and what she had done. She glanced to the blade again, and it immediately felt heavy once more, causing it to drop from her hands to the ground. She raised her head to Tala and Kai, who looked to her, both as stunned as she was.
Spica was the first to break the silence among the throng. "K-Kuiper! No!"
"I don't get it, shouldn't he be healing? Just as I did?" Telesto whispered.
Ophelia stepped forward, solemn eyes on Kuiper's body. "Telesto, Spica, you two are the only ones left. Do you friend and Goadbwa proud. Artillery is with Marduk and Phoebe. Go. I'll take care of the Hilanovs."
Telesto and Spica nodded. With once last glance at their dead companion, they turned and ran off somewhere with Phoebe and Marduk. Once they were gone, Ophelia advanced to Sarah. She reached into her lab coat pocket and slowly drew out a small silver gun. She raised it to fire, when Tala hurtled towards her and tackled her to the ground. In surprise, she fired, and the bullet tore through Tala's right leg.
He fell to the ground and rolled away, the shot of the gun and his yell jolting Sarah back to her surroundings. She looked to Ophelia on the floor beside her, and inched away as Ophelia rose to her feet. Ophelia fired again and nicked the armour on Sarah's elbow, slicing the edge of her glove.
Sarah tried to lift the sword again, but it was too heavy. She drew her gun and stepped away from Ophelia, not turning her back on the woman.
"It's no use trying to evade your death, girl. What goes around, comes around, and the death you befell Kuiper shall be carried out by me."
Sarah turned rapidly and ran towards the pond. She heard another gunshot ring as a bullet rushed past her left ear. When she came to the edge of the water, she stopped and whipped back around to see Ophelia slowing down from the run she had originally had. Ophelia stepped closer, gun held out and ready to shove her into the water.
When Ophelia was a metre away and ready to shoot at point-blank, Sarah aimed her gun at Ophelia, but her nervousness caused her quivering hand to miss-fire, and the bullet hit the gun in Ophelia's hand. It was knocked out of her hand, and Ophelia watched it fly towards the ground first before thrusting forward into Sarah. Sarah lost the weapon in her hand and fell backwards, into the water.
She took a deep breath of air before water filled her nostrils, causing a sting in her throat. She waited for the plunge downward to subside before freeing herself from Ophelia's body and swimming to the surface. She broke its surface and took another deep breath of air in. She looked down into the depths of the water to find Ophelia. There was silence in the water, and no shadows were looming below the surface.
"Don't tell me I've killed someone else..." Sarah muttered to herself. She whirled around while still treading water to try to find the woman. She finally thought she saw something in the water and brought her head closer to the water to get a better look at it when she heard a splash behind her.
She whipped around to see Ophelia there, taking a deep breath and a crazily infuriated expression on her face, her hair completely drenched. Sarah made to swim away as Ophelia reached her arms forward and grabbed Sarah's shoulders, forcing her under. Sarah struggled for breath, fighting and kicking until finally she got Ophelia in the shin. Ophelia immediately let go to cradle her leg and Sarah rose to the surface and swam to the edge of the pool.
Once Ophelia caught her breath and the pain had subsided, she swam after Sarah, who was trying to recuperate at the edge of the pond. Ophelia reached out and slashed with her nails, catching a part of Sarah's uniform at the arm and also breaking the skin. Red burst from the new wound and clouded the water.
Ophelia made another attempt to drown the girl by pushing her underwater once more, but this time, Sarah reached above the water and pulled Ophelia down with her. Sarah managed to pull herself above the surface momentarily to grab another breath as Ophelia pulled her under again. Sarah could hold her breath no longer and was on the verge of passing out when she felt Ophelia release her. Sarah surfaced above the water and took the deepest breath she ever had taken in, still feeling extremely dizzy.
She heard voices calling her name and tried to move toward them, but lack of oxygen to her brain made her disoriented and she didn't know which way to turn. She began to sink below the water. She heard a splashing coming towards her, though the direction kept changing. She sank underwater and saw her blood making the water murky before her eyes. She was about to be knocked out cold when she felt someone grab her around the chest and pull her above the water.
She was dragged the shore and lifted out of the water by another pair of hands. She coughed up mouthfuls of water that had been in her throat and opened her eyes just in time to see Kai pull himself out of the water, dripping wet. He caught his breath and moved closer to her just as she closed her eyes.
She felt her body being transferred from whoever had been holding her to Kai, and she remained still, trying to catch her breath and keeping her stinging eyes closed.
"She's bleeding," she heard Tala's voice say.
"Yes, I'm bleeding," she wanted to say, but she didn't have the breath.
"We'll have to staunch it," Tala continued.
"You're bleeding, too," Kai countered. "Take care of yourself first, hers is only a minor wound."
"She's not breathing, Kai!"
"She'll be fine!"
Kai looked at the body lying in his arms. Tala was right, though her chest heaved, she didn't seem to be getting the air she needed. She coughed, and then finally stopped breathing altogether. Her face started to become blue. Kai gasped and jerked her back and forth gently.
"Sarah? Sarah! Can you hear me? Sarah!"
"She's passed out!" Tala exclaimed. "See what waiting did?"
"She needs air."
"We don't exactly have a respirator with us!"
"But we do have a person that knows CPR," Kai said as he lay her down flat on her back.
Tala held a look of disbelief as he glared at Kai. "Don't... tell me you..."
Kai lowered his head and placed his ear near her mouth. He lay two fingers against her neck to find a pulse. "Her heart's still beating, but you're right, she isn't breathing."
He opened her mouth wider to see if there was anything obstructing her airway. "She must've swallowed water."
Kai tilted her head back slightly and pinched her nose. He then took a deep breath in and bent low over her mouth. He exhaled the air into her mouth. When he had run out of air, he raised his head and let go of her nose.
"Nothing's happening, Kai," Tala urged impatiently.
"She's going to live."
Tala watched silently as Kai lowered his head once more and repeated the action. Kai raised his head again and looked to him.
"Well?"
"Same as before."
"Come on," Kai muttered as he took another deep breath in and bent down again. But this time, when he was halfway through the air in his lungs, he felt a rush of air come back at him and into his mouth.
Kai pulled away and let go of her nose, wiping his wet mouth as he observed her cough and start to breathe again. Tala helped her to sit up straight and patted her back to help her get the lodged water out of her throat. She spat it onto the ground and took in a mouthful of air.
"You okay?" Tala asked.
Sarah nodded. "I am now."
Tala smiled with an expression of relief. "You've Kai to thank for your life. You would've drowned had he not jumped in, dragged you ashore, and then performed CPR. But don't forget me-I was the one that knocked Ophelia out with that stone."
Sarah turned around to look at Kai, who was trying to dry himself off. He looked up on the mention of his name. Staring into the greenish- grey adoring eyes of Sarah, he began to blush. "Uh...Yes?"
"Thank you, Kai. I guess we're even, now, aren't we?"
"Yeah. I wouldn't be here today to save you if I'd gone over that waterfall or frozen in that ice floe," he replied, smiling unconsciously out of embarrassment.
"Oh, such a mushy moment. You two are making me sick-" Tala cut in, but he was intercepted by a scream that rang across the battlefield.
Kai looked around in alarm. "That's Rhea. And when she screams, it definitely isn't a good thing."
"But where is she?" questioned Sarah, also scanning the area.
"She's nowhere on the field. Which reminds me-where's Anya?" Tala added.
Kai stood up and ran off without another word.
"Kai! Kai, where are you going?" Tala and Sarah both cried in unison. They watched as Kai ignored them and ran along the edge of the field in the direction of the entrance to the field they had entered from. He disappeared behind one of the huge rocks that made the border of the field.
"Stay here," Tala instructed her as he leapt up from his kneeling position and began to head off in Kai's direction.
"But Tala-Ah!"
Tala stopped and turned when he heard an explosion and then a scream. He saw flames ignite the grass and Sarah crouching into a ball to protect herself.
"Get into the water!" he yelled. She either didn't hear him, or refused to obey the order. He looked the right to see Telesto and Spica halfway across the field with bazookas resting on their shoulders. They were aiming to fire again.
"Get in the stupid water!" Tala repeated angrily. He heard one of them fire and ran forward, scooping Sarah up as he dove into the water, narrowly missing the shell that exploded where she had previously been sitting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So now the Hilanovs have split up and Telesto and Spica have brought out the big guns (literally). Kuiper's down for the count, and so is Ophelia. The older Hilanovs are missing and Rhea's in distress. But what happened to Gilepse and Boris, and who is the traitor that Spica suspects? Will the remaining two members of Vitality Extortion manage to take down the Hilanovs on their own, or will it be the other way around? Review and find out in the next chapter, Vitality's Extortion!
"And here we are at the scene of what seems to be an impressive Beybattle in the middle of an abandoned field. Why the authorities aren't here is the question that the media is asking and puzzling over. Such and event would be classified as a riot and criminal act as it appears the Beybattles have gone beyond mere Beyblading. Even from the aerial view we have, there seems to be a lot of red appearing down there, and I am of course referring to blood-which can only mean that most certain death and pain are being caused down there. Stay tuned for updates on this occurrence. This has been Andrea Chase for R-"
"When the media's involved, it's big," Judy growled, turning off the TV and clutching the remote to her chest.
"And bad," added Lutka. "This engagement between Goadbwa and Biovolt was supposed to be confidential. If the media gets information about either side and the other is listening, it could be disastrous. What the public learns can also be potentially dangerous. If Goadbwa wins this, we're guaranteed the apocalypse sometime soon."
Irina glanced from one monitor to another and landed on Judy's worried expression. "So what do we do about the media? Should we defer the Infiltration of Galsky Castle and take care of the media instead?"
"That's won't be necessary. We don't want to end up with a bunch of dead reporters on our hands. Boris sits bad enough as it is with Voltaire, and we don't need the added contempt of the government," concluded Judy. "What I'm more worried about at the moment is the fact that Kai, Tala, and Sarah are at the battlefield. If Boris told them not to go, then it was probably for a good reason."
Kenny sighed. "I don't see what you're so worried about, Mrs. Tate. Don't you remember Boris himself saying that those three were the actual descendants of the Hilanovs? If anything, they are the ones that will win it for us because they're stronger."
"Which is exactly what Goadbwa wants," countered Lutka. "The Hilanovs have more power, and they can use it against us if Goadbwa gets a hold of them. You saw how easy it was for Goadbwa to take control of Sarah. They could do the same to Kai and Tala is an even easier target. All they need is to hack into his operative systems and he becomes a destructive puppet. For Kai and Sarah, they need their Bit Beasts. Maybe it was a mistake to fuse their souls with those of their Bit Beasts..."
***
"Go, Dranzer!"
Dranzer rose from its blade and shot straight towards the young male Goadbwa trainee that had been sneaking up on Rhea. Dranzer penetrated the boy and left through the opposite side it had entered, carrying with it tinges of blue among the red bird-like form. It soared up into the dark grey clouded sky, creating a small flash upon contact. Seconds later there was another flash and it plummeted back downward and back into Kai's spinning Beyblade.
Kai looked to the boy just in time to see his eyes roll back into his head and close before he fell to the ground, unconscious and without a spirit. Maybe it had been heartless, but the alternatives could have been worse.
Kuiper looked to the comatose boy and then back to Kai. "Think you're so hot, don't you? Dubbed the "World Champion" and you get all egotistical. Well, let me give you a taste of reality-maybe the Soul Realm is the best place to learn!"
In one flashing move, Doppelgost sprang from its position looming over Rhea to aiming for Kai. It was so fast that it gave no time to react. Rhea couldn't command anything of Moel as she had just come out of being transfixed, and Kuiper wasn't about to help him. The blue spirit came at him, Kai drawing back in fear and horror of what was about to happen. After what seemed like an eternity of fear and drawing back, he made one final jerk and felt Doppelgost penetrate his arm instead of his chest-where it had been aiming. It was still a place that could be stolen from.
***
"There-keep your eyes on them. On my signal, shoot," instructed the head of Rank B in a whisper to the Biovolt deploys hiding behind the corner he was in.
One of the Goadbwa scientists rounded the corner towards them, holding a gun, but not poised to shoot. She glanced around the halls as she sauntered down them, appearing quite nervous and visibly shaking even as she tried to hold her composure. She was about four metres and had stopped to clutch the gun anxiously to her chest and look around with paranoia.
"Fire!" the head ordered in an audible yell.
The girl whipped her head towards where they had been hiding around the corner just as the deploys jumped out. The three that had leapt out fired five simultaneous shots before moving forward over the bloodied corpse.
***
There was a burst of pain like a thousand needles erupted from where he had been hit and he felt mildly nauseous. He closed his eyes to block out the pain and saw the image of his father smiling back at him. When he opened them, it was gone. He felt the Beast leave his arm opposite the side it had entered and was surprised to find himself still awake.
He raised his head to see the ghostly blue form retreat to the grey clouds with and orange soul as Dranzer had done before returning to the astonished Kuiper's Beyblade. Kuiper stared wide-eyed at his spinning blade before looking to Kai with the same flabbergasted expression. Kai was very much surprised himself. He held his right hand to where it hurt on his left arm, but other than that, he was perfectly fine. After glancing at Rhea and Kuiper, he looked to his arm and lifted his hand away. His uniform had been cut and a bloody wound displayed itself clearly on his arm.
"I-I don't understand... You should be out cold! I saw Doppelgost take your soul! Why are you still awake?" Kuiper exclaimed.
Kai turned his head around the two once again. "I...I don't know..."
"You took a soul, alright, but it wasn't necessarily Kai's soul," Rhea said, having become aware of her surroundings once again. The two turned their attention towards her.
"The soul you took, Kuiper, wasn't that of Kai's. It was merely the soul that occupied his arm. I am sure that Gilepse told you of the fact that Kai has more than one soul."
"I do?" "He does?" the two boys chorused.
"It's father, Tala! Look, Tala, look!" Anya cried, grabbing his arm and jerking it to pull him to see the figure.
Tala stared silently, ignoring the yells of his sister screaming in his ear. The two were so entranced that they didn't see Telesto duck out from behind the red soul and draw the gun from its holster. With a snicker that foretold his approach, he fired at the mesmerized Tala.
Samson's eyes flickered open warily to see Spica pinning Sarah to the ground. Spica held one wrist firmly and struggled to get past the dagger Sarah held protecting her throat from the one Spica had. Ignoring the pain in his chest, Samson staggered upward and towards the two.
"Hey! Spica! Leave her alone! She wasn't sent to fight you!"
"Neither were you sent to fight her," sounded a familiar voice as Samson felt an arm latch around his neck and pull him backward. The person reached out a navy blue uniformed arm and held the knife in his hand against his throat.
Samson turned his head slightly to see Kieran smiling smugly back at him. "Kieran! Why are you doing this?"
"Because I want to," was the simple answer. "Come with me-Gilepse's orders." With that, he dragged Samson away to the edge of the field, Samson not persisting but keeping an eye on Sarah and Spica.
Spica let go of Sarah's wrist on feeling a sharp jab in the middle of her back. She fell forward towards Sarah's head from the impact but was thrown off in the grace period. Sarah massaged the knee she had used to knock Spica off with as she moved away from her recovering rival.
Spica sat for a moment, dazed at what had just happened. She quickly disposed of her dagger by throwing it on the ground and leaping up. She headed for Sarah, who held her dagger out in front in a wild hope of penetrating the armour with a single hit. The belt was hacked and severed, the blue fabric draped stretched taut across the chest armour landed softly in the grass so that the Goadbwa logo on it was visible.
Spica took no notice of it and grabbed a hold of Sarah's arms, holding them steady so that she couldn't fight back. Sarah took that to advantage and kicked with her legs at Spica until Spica knocked her off them with one swift move. Spica stood over Sarah, keeping a safe distance away from where her legs could thrash as she kept the grip on her wrists. Spica raised her leg to aim one devastating kick at Sarah's stomach when she felt a sharp pain on the top of her head. She let go and fell backwards, throwing both hands to the wound and coiling with pain.
Sarah let her hands fall spreading to the ground and breathed a huge sigh of relief as she stared upward at the sky. All of a sudden, she saw a head appear above her, upside down, but someone to help her, nonetheless.
"Want a hand?" Philemon asked, extending his hand down towards her.
"I thought you didn't like helping me?"
"I make exceptions."
Sarah reached up and Philemon grabbed a hold of her arm, hauling her upright and onto her feet. Sarah breathed heavily as they both watched Spica cradle her aching head. She looked like a small child throwing a tantrum over a small cut, writhing and holding her head as if it would break should she loosen her grip.
"Thanks," Sarah huffed, still trying to catch her breath.
"Don't mention it. Hey Spica-had enough?"
"You-You idiots! I'll show you that Goadbwa can and will win this! Deneb has faith in us, not Biovolt!" she managed to say through whimpers of pain.
Philemon leaned closer to Sarah and lowered his voice that he couldn't be heard by Spica. "I received word that you, Tala, and Kai have to get together soon. The sooner, the better, that way we get this whole war over and done with. You go-I'll handle Spica."
Sarah nodded and hurried to where the other two were, fiddling with pieces of her torn uniform.
Rhea was about to reply but stopped when someone grabbed her from behind. It was a Goadbwa deploy and he held a knife to her back, ready to strike. "Mr Galsky would like you to unleash that extra soul of yours, Hiwatari."
"What extra soul?" Rhea questioned, trying to sound innocent.
Marduk pressed the knife harder to her back. Kai and Kuiper could see from the front that she was wincing in pain. "Don't play dumb. We're talking about your possession. That spirit inside of you-Crucis. Send her out, now, or we'll take it from you."
Kai made a move to advance forward when Kuiper's gun aimed for him. "Move and you're dead, Hiwatari. So your soul wants to stay with you, but a soul has nothing to do with your life."
Kai opened his mouth to speak when a voice from behind him interjected. "Kai!" There followed a gunshot from not too far away.
Tala felt searing agony in his shoulder and heard a clank. Purplish blood exploded from the gunshot wound and the stench of burnt flesh filled his and Anya's noses.
Anya stared at the gash in his shoulder. There was broken flesh which surrounded reddish metal. "Tala-l-look at your shoulder!"
"I know." He glowered straight ahead at Telesto, who, seeing the look in Tala's eyes, appeared fearful and apprehensive.
Telesto placed his gun back in its holster and drew back from Tala, who was advancing blindly on him. After a few calm steps, Tala dashed forward and reached for Telesto's neck only to be kicked in the chest by him. Tala fell backwards into a sitting position and breathed heavily to catch his breath as he saw Spica appear at Telesto's side.
"We have to end this now," she ordered to him. "If we combine our powers, we can take them down right here, right now."
Telesto nodded. "Right. Get Kuiper and assemble everyone here."
Kuiper, Kai, and Sarah had turned to where Telesto, Spica and Tala were. Sarah looked a little further to where she had been fighting with Spica before to see Philemon sprawled out across the ground, his glasses lying in the grass nearby him.
"Philemon!"
"Don't worry 'bout him, Langley. I just had to shut him up for a while-he was getting in my way," sneered Spica. She turned to the other two. "Come on, let's split."
Sarah was about to respond to their retreat when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine. Right now we have other things to worry about," Kai consoled.
"But where are the soul supports?"
"Right here," Tyson's voice resounded from behind. "We're here to help you."
Eva stepped out from behind Tyson and over to where Tala sat on the grass in front of Vitality Extortion. She kept her eye warily on the gun the Telesto held out towards her in case she made a sudden move. She dragged Tala to the other five, depositing him to lean against Sarah's leg.
Sarah bent down. "Tala? Are you going to be okay?"
Tala breathed heavily in her face. He coughed throatily before replying. "No problem. I'll... be fine. Just help me up."
Sarah took hold of both of his arms and yanked him up and onto his feet. He stood hunched over and swayed precariously for a moment before drawing up to full height and regaining full breath. "All right. Let's do this."
"Where did Vitality Extortion go?" Bryan asked, looking around the field. "They ran off, I took my eye away, and now they're gone."
Kai reached inside his torn black jumpsuit and pulled out his papal cross. He scrutinised it a moment before letting go of it and letting it fall against his chest. He spread his arms out as if to embrace a small child. "Take out your crosses and join hands."
"What's that supposed to do?" questioned Tala, having regained his spunk.
"Don't question me unless you have a better suggestion," Kai replied sternly.
Tala muttered something about Kai being a show-off before reaching inside his white jumpsuit and pulling out his patriarchal cross and taking hold of both Sarah and Kai's hands.
Sarah took out her Latin cross and Beyblade, gripping Fovular tightly in the hand with which she held Tala.
"Ow! Hey, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, the points of her Beyblade digging into his skin.
"Whoops, sorry, I-"
"Good idea," added Kai. "Hold your Beyblades, too."
Tala took out Wolborg and lowered his head as Kai and Sarah were doing as they all held hands. After a moment of silence among the three, Sarah opened her eyes and raised her head.
"What exactly are we doing?"
"Praying," answered Kai without looking up.
"I don't see how that will help," Tala interjected.
"We haven't been able to defeat Goadbwa up to this point. Maybe asking for help from the heavens is what will aid us. And if not, it's worth a try."
Tala and Sarah looked at each other before mimicking Kai.
"I always thought Kai was a little off his rocker..." Tyson whispered to Eva.
Eva looked to the sky. It was covered in clouds, yet when the clouds did part, it was night. The bright moon shone above the mountains they stood in front of. Regardless of the fact that dark had fallen, individual battles raged throughout the field. She looked back to the Hilanovs when she began to hear them muttering something.
"God of the high heavens and angels of death and life..." started Kai.
"We not only ask for your aide in the salvation of our lives, but those of the world..." Tala continued.
"O ye gods, give us the strength to battle the evil of Vitality Extortion..." finished Sarah.
There was a silence in which nothing happened. The Hilanovs stood with their heads down, eyes closed and holding hands while Bryan, Eva, and Tyson watched intently. Bryan then raised his head and noticed something appearing in the clouds.
"Hey, guys-look!"
Tyson and Eva gawked upwards to see the storm clouds swirl, and then spread apart to reveal the blackish blue of the sky. There was a flash of bright light, and then a white beam shot down from the part in the clouds. It reached to the ground in the middle of the Hilanovs, creating a continuous ray of light.
Their crosses floated away from their chests and seemed drawn to the light. From their hands poked the ghostly heads of their Bit Beasts, then the bodies, until they were completely drawn out and into the glow. The Hilanovs kept in their position.
Tyson felt something vibrate in his hand and looked down to it. Dragoon pushed its way out from the confines of the bit piece and towards the beam of light as Wolborg, Dranzer and Fovular had done. The same was happening to Bryan and Eva, too, from their exclamation.
Across the field, Robert paused in his battle with a Goadbwa deploy when Griffolyon veered away from the opponent it was halfway through attacking. He turned to see it being drawn to the light at the edge of the field near the pond and mountain exits. Glancing around the field, it seemed that all of the Bit Beasts belonging to deploys of Biovolt were being siphoned into the vortex.
"What's happening?" he heard Emily exclaim frantically from somewhere nearby.
"Their Bit Beasts are being drawn into the Soul Realm," Spica explained to Kuiper and Telesto, who also knew what was going on. They had returned from gathering a couple of trainees from around the field and stood some metres warily away. All were staring, wide eyed.
"Their powers are strong to be able to summon the strength of the Gods..." Kuiper voiced pointlessly.
"Are you sure we stand a chance against them?" Telesto questioned rhetorically.
When all of the Bit Beasts had finished their air parade and been taken into the hole in the sky, the beam narrowed. From the break in the clouds descended a long, thin object with all the colours of the spirits shooting around it. It came down the beam slowly and stopped to hover in mid-air when it was arm's reach above the Hilanovs.
Sarah was the first to open her eyes and raise her head. "Look!" she gasped.
Tala and Kai did the same and saw the magnificent weapon floating over their heads. It was a sword with a leather handle and black pommel. The blade was of a lustrous silver that reflected the colours of the many spirits circling around it.
Sarah let go of Tala's hand and reached upwards to bring it down further. She stretched her arm to full length, and when that didn't work, she boosted herself onto the edges of her toes. It hovered, just out of each attempt at reaching it.
Kai reached upward and onto his toes as Sarah had done, this time just brushing it with his fingertips. Tala watched confusedly as they both tried to reach for it on tiptoe, neither one achieving the needed height. There were other ways of getting to it.
Tala let go off both their hands and leapt up into the air, managing to grab a hold of the pommel in one hand. Though, as soon as he pulled it from its hovering position, it felt as heavy as lead and headed for the ground, Tala not strong enough to support its immense weight. Had Kai not jumped out of the way, he would have walked away from it with one less arm. Immediately, the white beam of light narrowed and flickered before disappearing completely to make the sky close and grey once again.
Kai and Sarah stared at the sword in Tala's hand in astonishment. "Why didn't I think of that?" Sarah questioned rhetorically.
"Because it's only fair to share glory," Tala replied succinctly. "This is great, but what are we supposed to do with it?"
Sarah reached for the handle of the sword and tried to raise it, Tala having let go of it. She struggled with it, using both hands, but to no avail. Tala reached out to help her, gripping his hands firmly around hers on the pommel. Together, they were able to lift it a couple of centimetres off of the ground, but not to full height. Kai then reached out to help, hands over Tala and Sarah's.
With a heavy heave from the three, it was pulled into the air and they raised it high above their heads. The Bit Beasts, since Tala had pulled it down, had stopped their circling, but began once more as the sword was held raised in the air.
All the while this happened, the others on the battlefield had paused their battles to stare in amazement. Vitality Extortion stood the closest, and had been the most mesmerized by it all. They had brought some other Goadbwa officials with them, including Ophelia, whom they were surprised to meet. Kuiper was the first to wake from his mindless stare.
"Come on, guys, who knows what will happen if they find out how to work that thing!"
Spica and Telesto turned to him, having come to their senses at his comment. They both nodded as Kuiper lunged forward at Kai.
"Get Kai! If we can't take down his multiple souls, we won't stand a chance against the other two!"
"Let it rip!" Telesto exclaimed, firing his Beyblade at Kai. "Poltost, or should I say, Sergei Romanov, eat his soul!"
Kai stood still and watched the red spirit heading for him when Tala leapt out in front, pulled out his dagger, and rushed forward at Telesto. He dodged the soul of his father and caught Telesto by his torn collar. Keeping a firm hold on the collar to hold him in place, Tala brought the dagger upwards and drove it right into the fleshy part under Telesto's chin.
Telesto made a choking, gagging noise, and the blood poured from the wound as Tala quickly drew it out. Tala let go of Telesto, who drew back, stumbled, and fell to the ground, clutching the area of the violent wound.
There was silence among the throng as Tala stared down at his victim, a ruthless and apathetic look on his face. Telesto kept his head buried, his chin against his neck and hands smearing blood from the wound. Poltost had also stopped in mid-air. After a minute or so, Telesto coughed up an amount of blood onto the ground before staggering up. He stood at full height, with his head still down, and massaged his chin a little before raising his head.
Tala's eyes widened and he gasped. "Th-That's impossible! It was a fatal wound! What the heck happened?"
Telesto looked to Spica, and then to Kuiper, who had been standing behind him. They had the same look as Tala. Where the blood had poured onto his uniform, it remained, but the area around where the wound had been was clean. In fact, there was no wound at all, just a reddish colouring as if it were a mere rash.
"Let's not dwell on the small stuff, please, and get Kai's souls!" ordered Kuiper, bringing everyone to their senses once again.
"Right!" Spica agreed, firing her Beyblade and commanding Revenost to go for Kai.
Meanwhile, the sword had fallen from the hands of only two Hilanovs, and Kai stood like a deer in the headlights, half paralysed from fear. All three of Vitality Extortion's Bit Beasts came at him. He felt Doppelgost strike through his left arm, Poltost through his right leg, and Revenost through his torso. They penetrated one by one, each as painful as the last, and Kai wondered how many chances he had left. He recoiled to the ground and crouched, writhing in pain.
"He's still alive and kicking, Spica..." Telesto warned in a mocking voice.
"Don't you think I can see that? It's obvious that there are more than three souls in him. However many more, they won't last him long. Keep attacking!" she screeched back.
Poltost, Doppelgost, and Revenost shot back through the clouds and back to the ground once more, each heading for Kai. How many more souls were contained in him from his syndication? Spica was right, not many. He closed his eyes and lowered his head to brace himself for the hit when he heard a loud clash and then moans.
He raised his head to see Wolborg, Fovular, and Dranzer forming a barrier around him. Vitality Extortion's Bit Beasts had deflected off the barrier and were floating aimlessly away from it.
"What are you waiting for? Break through that barrier!" Spica ordered the Bit Beasts and pointing at Kai.
"You'll have to go through us, first!" countered Tala, standing his ground in front of Kai.
"It's not going to work, guys," observed Kuiper. "It's obvious, their souls aren't willing to leave them, so get their lives out of the way, even if their souls are more valuable to Goadbwa."
"I think it's also working vice versa," Sarah whispered to Tala out the side of her mouth. "You saw how Telesto's death wound healed almost immediately. We'll have to take their souls down."
"I call Spica," Tala muttered back. He drew his gun quickly and made to aim at her, had she not been quicker to draw and fire first.
Dranzer, Fovular, and Wolborg returned to their Beyblades and Kai got up from his crouching position. He headed for Telesto, who had had his attention elsewhere at the moment. Kai tackled Telesto to the ground and held the knife to his throat.
"I'm generally not this violent, but when my buttons are pushed, I make exceptions," Kai growled.
Telesto could do nothing but smile pleasantly back. "When I'm done with you, Kai, you'll wish you had felt pacifistic today."
Seeing both his teammates occupied, Kuiper turned to Sarah, who had been standing beside the sword, unmoved from the position she had prayed in. She looked at him, her eyes clearly showing surprise and slight fear. He smiled and charged for her, dagger drawn.
"You're mine!"
He was a few inches away from her when she thrust out and swung her leg under his, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. He landed flat on his back to stared up at the sky, dazed, but not before he had landed a slash across her chest.
As Kuiper lay on the ground, Sarah analysed the cut in the clothing. There was a laceration from her right shoulder to the top of her left breast. Surprisingly, there was only a small graze to the skin. As she was preoccupied with it, Kuiper recovered, leapt up, and knocked her down with his arm. She fell onto her rear and stared up at him, confusion on her features, He stepped toward her and she scrambled away, not turning her back to him and on all fours.
"Come on, now. Let me do this properly and it won't hurt one bit. You won't feel a thing, my pretty," Kuiper drawled, a smug smirk on his face. He finally threw himself forward with the dagger.
Sarah jumped out of the way just in time for him to plant the knife into the ground where her chest had just been. She got up onto her feet and ran around behind him, reaching for the sword and taking hold of it in both hands.
Telesto kicked Kai off just as Kai began to bring the dagger down. Kai fell forward and Telesto leapt up to place his foot firmly on Kai's back so that he couldn't get up. "How's it feel to be the underdog for a change, Kai?"
"Sweet as revenge," Kai replied wittily as he reached up with the knife and stabbed Telesto in the leg.
Telesto drew his leg away immediately, and drew it to his chest to scrutinise the blood gush from it. Kai got onto his feet and brought the dagger to Telesto's chest. Telesto quickly moved his hands out of the way and drew back. There was a standstill between the two as Telesto's chest armour cracked from where the blade had impacted. It ran a crack up and down the front side of the white chest plate before the whole armour shattered and fell to the ground in pieces along with the blue belt.
Kai and Telesto both looked to the heavy materials lying on the floor, both stunned at what had just happened. Kai let go of the dagger and it dropped to the grass among the shards of the armour. He looked up as he heard Telesto gasp. Telesto was looking over Kai's shoulder, and for a moment Kai wasn't sure whether or not to trust him. He turned, however, when he saw Spica and Tala also staring in the same direction, even though blood dripped from the gunshot wound in Tala's side.
Sarah had lifted the sword, yet she didn't seem to notice she had. She held it above her head, poised to strike Kuiper, who neither seemed to notice that she wielded it easily in her hands. He drew his gun in one hand and dagger in the other. He fired a shot towards her, but she blocked it with the silver blade. She jabbed forward with the sword but was blown off by the dagger of Kuiper.
They continued to throw these hits at each other, each either dodging or deflecting the blow. Everyone else was mesmerized by the fact that Sarah could wield it by herself when it had taken the three Hilanovs before, yet Kuiper and Sarah kept on battling despite the many eyes.
Finally, the two parted for a break, about a metre away from each other as they scowled and panted at one another. After several moments, Kuiper made the first advance forward to strike, but Sarah made the move faster. She raised the sword to shoulder level and pared the blade horizontally. For those few petrified seconds as he glared into her angered eyes, Kuiper wished he had kept his arms up to block instead of jabbing forward.
There was a stunned silence among the group as they stared at the scene, horrified. Sarah stared straight ahead, a distant and confused look in her eye, unaware of what kind of fury had come over her. She glanced to the sword, which felt light as a feather in her hand. She ran her eyes along the blade, and at the halfway point for several or so centimetres, the blade was no longer silver.
She looked ahead again to see that her opponent was no longer standing in front of her and lowered her head. She saw why everyone had the mortified expression.
Kuiper lay on his back, blood spattered over the upper part of his uniform. Sarah ran her eyes along the body, from toe to head, but had to stop short at the neck. The reason; there was no head to look at. A clean cut had been made through the middle of his neck with the Hilanov sword. The many main arteries and veins secreted mass amounts of blood onto the grass and reddened the bones of his spinal cord.
Sarah cast her gaze slightly to the left and saw his head lying there, face up. His expression was wide-eyed, his mouth closed, the ultimate trepidation on his features. The severed neck clearly displayed the blood and more of the veins, arteries, and bones.
She kept her eyes on it, wondering what to do and what she had done. She glanced to the blade again, and it immediately felt heavy once more, causing it to drop from her hands to the ground. She raised her head to Tala and Kai, who looked to her, both as stunned as she was.
Spica was the first to break the silence among the throng. "K-Kuiper! No!"
"I don't get it, shouldn't he be healing? Just as I did?" Telesto whispered.
Ophelia stepped forward, solemn eyes on Kuiper's body. "Telesto, Spica, you two are the only ones left. Do you friend and Goadbwa proud. Artillery is with Marduk and Phoebe. Go. I'll take care of the Hilanovs."
Telesto and Spica nodded. With once last glance at their dead companion, they turned and ran off somewhere with Phoebe and Marduk. Once they were gone, Ophelia advanced to Sarah. She reached into her lab coat pocket and slowly drew out a small silver gun. She raised it to fire, when Tala hurtled towards her and tackled her to the ground. In surprise, she fired, and the bullet tore through Tala's right leg.
He fell to the ground and rolled away, the shot of the gun and his yell jolting Sarah back to her surroundings. She looked to Ophelia on the floor beside her, and inched away as Ophelia rose to her feet. Ophelia fired again and nicked the armour on Sarah's elbow, slicing the edge of her glove.
Sarah tried to lift the sword again, but it was too heavy. She drew her gun and stepped away from Ophelia, not turning her back on the woman.
"It's no use trying to evade your death, girl. What goes around, comes around, and the death you befell Kuiper shall be carried out by me."
Sarah turned rapidly and ran towards the pond. She heard another gunshot ring as a bullet rushed past her left ear. When she came to the edge of the water, she stopped and whipped back around to see Ophelia slowing down from the run she had originally had. Ophelia stepped closer, gun held out and ready to shove her into the water.
When Ophelia was a metre away and ready to shoot at point-blank, Sarah aimed her gun at Ophelia, but her nervousness caused her quivering hand to miss-fire, and the bullet hit the gun in Ophelia's hand. It was knocked out of her hand, and Ophelia watched it fly towards the ground first before thrusting forward into Sarah. Sarah lost the weapon in her hand and fell backwards, into the water.
She took a deep breath of air before water filled her nostrils, causing a sting in her throat. She waited for the plunge downward to subside before freeing herself from Ophelia's body and swimming to the surface. She broke its surface and took another deep breath of air in. She looked down into the depths of the water to find Ophelia. There was silence in the water, and no shadows were looming below the surface.
"Don't tell me I've killed someone else..." Sarah muttered to herself. She whirled around while still treading water to try to find the woman. She finally thought she saw something in the water and brought her head closer to the water to get a better look at it when she heard a splash behind her.
She whipped around to see Ophelia there, taking a deep breath and a crazily infuriated expression on her face, her hair completely drenched. Sarah made to swim away as Ophelia reached her arms forward and grabbed Sarah's shoulders, forcing her under. Sarah struggled for breath, fighting and kicking until finally she got Ophelia in the shin. Ophelia immediately let go to cradle her leg and Sarah rose to the surface and swam to the edge of the pool.
Once Ophelia caught her breath and the pain had subsided, she swam after Sarah, who was trying to recuperate at the edge of the pond. Ophelia reached out and slashed with her nails, catching a part of Sarah's uniform at the arm and also breaking the skin. Red burst from the new wound and clouded the water.
Ophelia made another attempt to drown the girl by pushing her underwater once more, but this time, Sarah reached above the water and pulled Ophelia down with her. Sarah managed to pull herself above the surface momentarily to grab another breath as Ophelia pulled her under again. Sarah could hold her breath no longer and was on the verge of passing out when she felt Ophelia release her. Sarah surfaced above the water and took the deepest breath she ever had taken in, still feeling extremely dizzy.
She heard voices calling her name and tried to move toward them, but lack of oxygen to her brain made her disoriented and she didn't know which way to turn. She began to sink below the water. She heard a splashing coming towards her, though the direction kept changing. She sank underwater and saw her blood making the water murky before her eyes. She was about to be knocked out cold when she felt someone grab her around the chest and pull her above the water.
She was dragged the shore and lifted out of the water by another pair of hands. She coughed up mouthfuls of water that had been in her throat and opened her eyes just in time to see Kai pull himself out of the water, dripping wet. He caught his breath and moved closer to her just as she closed her eyes.
She felt her body being transferred from whoever had been holding her to Kai, and she remained still, trying to catch her breath and keeping her stinging eyes closed.
"She's bleeding," she heard Tala's voice say.
"Yes, I'm bleeding," she wanted to say, but she didn't have the breath.
"We'll have to staunch it," Tala continued.
"You're bleeding, too," Kai countered. "Take care of yourself first, hers is only a minor wound."
"She's not breathing, Kai!"
"She'll be fine!"
Kai looked at the body lying in his arms. Tala was right, though her chest heaved, she didn't seem to be getting the air she needed. She coughed, and then finally stopped breathing altogether. Her face started to become blue. Kai gasped and jerked her back and forth gently.
"Sarah? Sarah! Can you hear me? Sarah!"
"She's passed out!" Tala exclaimed. "See what waiting did?"
"She needs air."
"We don't exactly have a respirator with us!"
"But we do have a person that knows CPR," Kai said as he lay her down flat on her back.
Tala held a look of disbelief as he glared at Kai. "Don't... tell me you..."
Kai lowered his head and placed his ear near her mouth. He lay two fingers against her neck to find a pulse. "Her heart's still beating, but you're right, she isn't breathing."
He opened her mouth wider to see if there was anything obstructing her airway. "She must've swallowed water."
Kai tilted her head back slightly and pinched her nose. He then took a deep breath in and bent low over her mouth. He exhaled the air into her mouth. When he had run out of air, he raised his head and let go of her nose.
"Nothing's happening, Kai," Tala urged impatiently.
"She's going to live."
Tala watched silently as Kai lowered his head once more and repeated the action. Kai raised his head again and looked to him.
"Well?"
"Same as before."
"Come on," Kai muttered as he took another deep breath in and bent down again. But this time, when he was halfway through the air in his lungs, he felt a rush of air come back at him and into his mouth.
Kai pulled away and let go of her nose, wiping his wet mouth as he observed her cough and start to breathe again. Tala helped her to sit up straight and patted her back to help her get the lodged water out of her throat. She spat it onto the ground and took in a mouthful of air.
"You okay?" Tala asked.
Sarah nodded. "I am now."
Tala smiled with an expression of relief. "You've Kai to thank for your life. You would've drowned had he not jumped in, dragged you ashore, and then performed CPR. But don't forget me-I was the one that knocked Ophelia out with that stone."
Sarah turned around to look at Kai, who was trying to dry himself off. He looked up on the mention of his name. Staring into the greenish- grey adoring eyes of Sarah, he began to blush. "Uh...Yes?"
"Thank you, Kai. I guess we're even, now, aren't we?"
"Yeah. I wouldn't be here today to save you if I'd gone over that waterfall or frozen in that ice floe," he replied, smiling unconsciously out of embarrassment.
"Oh, such a mushy moment. You two are making me sick-" Tala cut in, but he was intercepted by a scream that rang across the battlefield.
Kai looked around in alarm. "That's Rhea. And when she screams, it definitely isn't a good thing."
"But where is she?" questioned Sarah, also scanning the area.
"She's nowhere on the field. Which reminds me-where's Anya?" Tala added.
Kai stood up and ran off without another word.
"Kai! Kai, where are you going?" Tala and Sarah both cried in unison. They watched as Kai ignored them and ran along the edge of the field in the direction of the entrance to the field they had entered from. He disappeared behind one of the huge rocks that made the border of the field.
"Stay here," Tala instructed her as he leapt up from his kneeling position and began to head off in Kai's direction.
"But Tala-Ah!"
Tala stopped and turned when he heard an explosion and then a scream. He saw flames ignite the grass and Sarah crouching into a ball to protect herself.
"Get into the water!" he yelled. She either didn't hear him, or refused to obey the order. He looked the right to see Telesto and Spica halfway across the field with bazookas resting on their shoulders. They were aiming to fire again.
"Get in the stupid water!" Tala repeated angrily. He heard one of them fire and ran forward, scooping Sarah up as he dove into the water, narrowly missing the shell that exploded where she had previously been sitting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So now the Hilanovs have split up and Telesto and Spica have brought out the big guns (literally). Kuiper's down for the count, and so is Ophelia. The older Hilanovs are missing and Rhea's in distress. But what happened to Gilepse and Boris, and who is the traitor that Spica suspects? Will the remaining two members of Vitality Extortion manage to take down the Hilanovs on their own, or will it be the other way around? Review and find out in the next chapter, Vitality's Extortion!
